''Morrells of Oxford Ltd v Oxford United Football Club''
001Ch 459 is an
English land law
English land law is the law of real property in England and Wales. Because of its heavy historical and social significance, land is usually seen as the most important part of English property law. Ownership of land has its roots in the feudal ...
case concerning
covenants and their interpretation in a conveyance, particularly discerning and distinguishing those expressly or impliedly with no intention to bind successors — those of a personal nature, enforceable "
", that is between the parties to the original deed. It concerned a
restraint of trade
Restraints of trade is a common law doctrine relating to the enforceability of contractual restrictions on freedom to conduct business. It is a precursor of modern competition law. In an old leading case of '' Mitchel v Reynolds'' (1711) Lord S ...
covenant and was unlike the others surrounding it (see
purposive interpretation
The purposive approach (sometimes referred to as purposivism, purposive construction, purposive interpretation, or the modern principle in construction) is an approach to statutory and constitutional interpretation under which common law courts i ...
and contextual interpretation) not expressed to bind all heirs and assigns (or other synonyms for successors in title).
Facts
Morrells of Oxford Ltd trading as
Morrells Brewery
Morrell's Brewing Company, also known as the Lion Brewery, was the only major brewery in Oxford, England. It operated between 1782 and 1998.
Early history
Morrell's was founded by Richard Tawney in 1743 as the Lion Brewery. In 1782 he formed ...
, were the successors in title to the original purchaser of a pub (i.e. they are the current owners). They sought to enforce a covenant against the developers of adjoining land, who were the successors in title to the local authority and whose registered land referred also to the same deed. In selling this adjoining farmland four decades before, the council had agreed not to allow the (alcohol-) licensing of premises within half a mile of the pub which they licensed and allowed to be built on that basis in the 1960s. The covenant was clear enough to qualify for enforcement if the local authority proposed to breach the covenant by selling alcohol on its own land but they did not and were in the process of selling the land to independent developers who ultimately built the
Kassam Stadium
The Kassam Stadium (also known as Grenoble Road) is the home of Oxford United Football Club, and is named after the ground's owner and former chairman of the football club, Firoz Kassam.
The Kassam Stadium currently hosts League One (third t ...
of Oxford United FC. The stadium's developer calculated it was a commercial necessity for an on-site alcohol consumption licence to be legally permissible on the site before completing their purchase of the stadium. The relevant, contentious Deed of Conveyance dated to 1962. Morrells argued that it bound and benefitted both sets of successors (respectively) by meeting the requirements of the
Law of Property Act 1925
The Law of Property Act 1925c 20 is a statute of the United Kingdom Parliament. It forms part of an interrelated programme of legislation introduced by Lord Chancellor Lord Birkenhead between 1922 and 1925. The programme was intended to moderni ...
, section 79.
[ 0012 WLR 128]
Judgment
Robert Walker LJ
Robert Walker, Baron Walker of Gestingthorpe , (born 17 March 1938) is an English barrister and former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He also serves as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.
He sa ...
held the purpose of s 79 was to remove the difficulty of expressing an intention to bind successors by allowing in some cases that intention to be presumed unless a contrary intention was apparent. Here the other covenants in the conveyance made it clear they should bind successors. The court held that the absence of such words in the covenant amounted to the contrary intention, that is an intention not to bind successors. The covenant was thus personal in nature (''inter partes'') and could not be enforced against successors in title. He said that Law of Property Act 1925, section 79 ‘extends the number of persons whose acts or omissions are within the reach of the covenant in the sense of making equitable remedies available, provided that the other conditions for equity’s intervention are satisfied.’
[
The section on its own (''per se'') does not make all covenants bind all successors, it leaves latitude as to construction (wording) as whether certain covenants are to be considered personal, those which are imposed so as not to bind the land itself. He summarised the applicable test for whether a covenant touches and concerns the land: "A’s duty is a duty not to make a particular use of A’s land; and A’s duty enhances B’s Freehold or Lease (i.e. benefits B’s land); and A’s duty, when created, is not intended to impose only a personal duty on A."][
]
Cases cited
Applied
*''Inland Revenue Comrs v Bernstein'' 961
Year 961 (Roman numerals, CMLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* March 6 – Siege of Chandax: Byzantine forces under Nikephoro ...
Ch 399; 961
Year 961 (Roman numerals, CMLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* March 6 – Siege of Chandax: Byzantine forces under Nikephoro ...
2 WLR 143; 961
Year 961 (Roman numerals, CMLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* March 6 – Siege of Chandax: Byzantine forces under Nikephoro ...
1 All ER 341, CA Obiter dictum
''Obiter dictum'' (usually used in the plural, ''obiter dicta'') is a Latin phrase meaning "other things said",''Black's Law Dictionary'', p. 967 (5th ed. 1979). that is, a remark in a legal opinion that is "said in passing" by any judge or arbi ...
of Lord Evershed MR ; 961
Year 961 (Roman numerals, CMLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* March 6 – Siege of Chandax: Byzantine forces under Nikephoro ...
Ch 399, 413[Index Card: Morrells of Oxford v Oxford United FC Ltd]
ICLR, London
Considered
*''Sefton v Tophams Ltd'' 9671 AC 50; 966
Year 966 (Roman numerals, CMLXVI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Byzantine Empire
* 23 June - Arab-Byzantine Wars, Byzantine-Arab War: Arab-Byzantine ...
2 WLR 814; 966
Year 966 (Roman numerals, CMLXVI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Byzantine Empire
* 23 June - Arab-Byzantine Wars, Byzantine-Arab War: Arab-Byzantine ...
1 All ER 1039, HL(E)
*''In re Royal Victoria Pavilion, Ramsgate'' 961
Year 961 (Roman numerals, CMLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* March 6 – Siege of Chandax: Byzantine forces under Nikephoro ...
Ch 581; 961
Year 961 (Roman numerals, CMLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* March 6 – Siege of Chandax: Byzantine forces under Nikephoro ...
3 WLR 491; 961
Year 961 (Roman numerals, CMLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* March 6 – Siege of Chandax: Byzantine forces under Nikephoro ...
3 All ER 83, Ch D
*''Powell v Hemsley'' 909
__NOTOC__
Year 909 ( CMIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Britain
* King Edward the Elder and his sister, Princess Æthelflæd of Mercia, raid Danish ...
2 Ch 252, CA[
]
See also
*English land law
English land law is the law of real property in England and Wales. Because of its heavy historical and social significance, land is usually seen as the most important part of English property law. Ownership of land has its roots in the feudal ...
*English trusts law
English trust law concerns the protection of assets, usually when they are held by one party for another's benefit. Trusts were a creation of the English law of property and obligations, and share a subsequent history with countries across the ...
*English property law
English property law refers to the law of acquisition, sharing and protection of valuable assets in England and Wales. While part of the United Kingdom, many elements of Scots property law are different. In England, property law encompasses four ...
References
{{reflist, 2
English land case law
Court of Appeal (England and Wales) cases
2001 in United Kingdom case law